


Nightmares {Rewrite}

by SummerStormFlower



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Blood, Brotherly Love, Emotional Trauma, Evil Genies, Eye Gouging, F/M, Friendship, Gen, I don't know, Injury, Insecurity, Jay and Nya are in love, Jay loses his eye, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Self-Esteem Issues, Sibling Love, Tags, Tags Are Hard, Vomiting, bad memories, erased timeline, eyepatch Jay, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:26:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24866788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower
Summary: Hope this flows better.Jay angst.
Relationships: Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Nya/Jay Walker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 88





	Nightmares {Rewrite}

**Author's Note:**

> I might've made some stuff up. Well, I don't write to be technical. I write just for fun. 
> 
> You can decide what enemy Jay loses his eye to. Or make some villain up. Whatever you want.

Nadakhan’s hook stole his eye in the most painful and gruesome way possible. Slowly. Jay remembered the pain much too clearly. He was pinned to the ground and Nadakhan was grinning evilly above him, like what he was doing was fun. Like Jay’s screams, as he dragged his hook over the side of Jay’s face, was music to his ears. 

Because of Jay’s wish, Nadakhan’s timeline was erased and Jay got his eye back. But he still had the memories. The agonizing memories. Sometimes, he wished he couldn’t remember. The giant spider, the torture, being at the pirate genie’s mercy, losing his friends, Nya dying in his arms.

He and Nya were the only ones who remembered it. They decided to keep it to themselves. Pain had befell their friends too. If they couldn’t remember it, that was good. That meant they didn’t have to deal with even more emotional scars than they all already had.

Besides. With that time erased, none of it technically ever happened. Nya never died. Jay never lost his eye. None of it had actually happened...

Yet when a dagger plunged towards his face, all Jay thought of in that moment was Nadakhan’s hook. And he knew this was a completely different battle. And he knew the others needed him to fight. They were gravely outnumbered. He knew he should’ve dodged. But he was frozen.

When pain exploded in his right eye, he screamed.

At least it didn’t hurt as much as a hook.

“Does it look bad?”

Nya huffed. “That’s what you’re worried about?” she asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow.

Unless by some miracle, time rewound itself once again, Jay’s right eye was gone for good this time. The eyepatch he’d chosen was obviously blue.

“Well... yeah,” Jay replied.

Stopping Jay from bleeding to death had been hard in the middle of a dangerous fight. It was a good thing that the best way to incite a ninja’s wrath, was to hurt one of their own. While Nya was at his side, the guys defeated their latest enemy violently and fast. Thus, they had defended the city for the thousandth time. And the only casualty was the loss of Jay’s right eye.

Nya sighed and sat down on the bed beside him, smiling a little sadly. “It looks fine,” she said.

Jay took her hand. “Hey, c’mon. It’s no big deal. I still got my other eye,” he reassured her.

“I know, but...” Nya looked at him seriously. “Are you okay?”

Jay was about to answer.

“Emotionally, I mean,” she clarified.

Jay hesitated.

Nya stared at him worriedly.

Finally, Jay responded, “I’m fine.”

(When that couldn’t be further from the truth).

Kai woke up to go to get a drink of water. He wasn’t expecting to find Jay, bent over the toilet, vomiting.

“Jay!? What the hell, are you okay!?” He was at his brother’s side immediately, arm tucked around his shoulders tightly.

Jay hacked and coughed, skin sickly pale, but left eye red from crying. “I had a nightmare,” he said, voice rough and weak.

“A nightmare?” Kai asked, keeping his arm around Jay. He was wobbling and if Kai let go, he was pretty certain Jay would fall over.

“A-about m-my eye,” Jay stammered before doubling over the toilet and throwing up again.

Kai wasn’t very good at comforting others. Anger was an easier emotion for him to deal with. But this was Jay, so he had to try.

He rubbed a gentle hand up and down Jay’s spine. “I know that’s gotta be one of the worst moments in your whole life,” he said (and it was for him too. He could still remember the red pouring out of Jay’s socket), “but it’s over now. You’re safe now.” He hoped that eased Jay at least a little.

Jay leaned against him exhaustedly. “I know,” he panted, “I just... I was just so scared! And-and it hurt! And he wouldn’t stop! And I-I was begging him, but he wouldn’t stop, and-and-and - !”

“Hey, hey! Deep breaths!” Kai said when it sounded like Jay was about to start hyperventilating. He’d thought Jay was talking about their battle a couple weeks ago, but it sounded like he was talking about something else entirely. Because when he’d lost his eye, he hadn’t been begging.

Jay sobbed brokenly, “I was so scared.”

Kai knew Jay took comfort in physical contact, so he pulled him in, not at all minding when Jay curled up against his chest like a little kid.

“You don’t have to be scared anymore. Okay? I got you,” Kai whispered.

They stayed like that until morning.

After that, the nightmares just kept coming. They wouldn’t go away, no matter what Jay did. Which was extremely annoying when he was trying to keep the others from worrying about him. Nya’s concerned gaze followed him wherever he went, and now lately, even Kai has had an eye on him. Like they’re waiting for Jay to come undone. To share his burdens.

Jay’s never thought his burdens were worth sharing.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. So he lost the same eye twice. So he was having nightmares now. So what? He was fine. He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine.

But one night, he wasn’t. Instead of waking from a nightmare, he woke up from a night terror this time. It was horrible. It felt like he was choking and burning and dying at the same time. He hardly remembered Lloyd trying to calm him down. All he knew was that it felt like an eternity, until he registered that he was awake and Lloyd was holding onto him.

“Control your breathing, Jay. It’s okay, you’re okay,” was what Lloyd was saying, seeming much older than he really was. Lloyd was gentleness and strength all at once, and his presence was the reassurance Jay needed right now.

It took a painful while, but Jay managed to level his breathing. The ache in his lungs was still there, but easier to handle.

“Sorry for waking you,” was the first thing he said when he could speak.

Lloyd frowned at him. “You just had a night terror, Jay. The last thing you need to be is sorry.”

Jay cleared his throat. “I’m fine.”

Lloyd shook his head. “You are not fine-”

“I said I’m fine!”

Lloyd looked like he was about to argue, but then paused when he saw that Jay was not backing down. He sighed sadly, and it hurt Jay’s heart. He hated making people sad. He hated seeing his baby brother in pain because of him.

If they all would just stop worrying about him, everything would be fine. Jay was alright. He was fine. He could fix himself. He wouldn’t have any nightmares anymore. He just wouldn’t sleep for awhile. Not like forever! He knew he needed to sleep. Just for a little awhile. Just until the nightmares stopped.

It was fine. He was fine.

“You cannot continue doing this to yourself, Jay,” Zane said one night. Well, actually it was probably morning.

Jay wasn’t sure what time it was. He’d been working on the cars in the garage and downing coffee for hours.

“Doing what?’ Jay asked, reaching for his toolbox.

Zane took it out of his reach, frowning at him. “Avoiding sleep,” he replied.

Jay sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose where a headache’s been pounding against his skull for days now.

“Look, Zane, you’re not my mother and you can’t tell me what to do,” he said, grabbing his toolbox back.

Zane put his hands on his hips. “Somebody should.”

“Just leave me,” Jay was cut off by a long sleepy yawn, “alone.”

Zane thought for a moment. “Very well,” he eventually said. He levelled Jay with a stern gaze. “If you are not in your bed within an hour’s time, I will drag to bed myself,” he told him before leaving the garage.

Jay sighed. He was getting tired.

The first thing that happened after Jay just couldn’t stay awake anymore, falling asleep in the garage where he’d been spending most of his time, is a nightmare. Of course. He hadn’t gotten a good sleep in days, and of course, he had a nightmare when he finally gave into sleep.

At least Cole woke him up.

“Breathe. It was just a dream,” Cole told him. He had Jay’s hand against his chest where his heartbeat was. It was steady and gave Jay something to focus on.

Jay hated this feeling. Like nothing was in his control. He couldn’t even control his own breathing, dammit!

“Breathe,” Cole said again.

Finally, Jay got oxygen back into his aching lungs.

“You good?” Cole asked.

Jay nodded. Cole then sat beside him, slinging an arm around his shoulders. Jay appreciated it. Cole was warm and let him lean against him. Jay hadn’t realized how cold he was.

“You wanna talk about it?” Cole asked after a minute.

Jay shook his head. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

Cole sighed. “C’mon, Jay. Quit shutting us out.”

“What? I’m not-”

“Yes, you are,” Cole said sternly.

Jay swallowed. He didn’t want to do this. “It’s just my eye-”

“No, it’s more than that.”

Jay could feel his left eye starting to sting. He didn’t want to do this.

Cole squeezed his shoulder. “Jay, you can tell me anything.”

Jay hiccuped, “I don’t want to!”

“But you need to,” Cole said gently.

And that did it. The dam and the floodgates opened, and Jay told Cole everything about the erased timeline through hiccups and tears. And Cole just listened. Just listened and held onto him. Cole was a good listener, he always had been. Maybe that’s why Cole was his best friend. Because Jay needed someone quiet, who actually listened to him instead of just hearing him.

And honestly, Jay felt a little better letting someone in. Maybe... maybe his burdens were worth sharing. Maybe he didn’t have to be fine. And maybe that was okay.


End file.
